Tired of seeing glamour-soaked couples serenading each other in glossy Europe? Are you craving to see love stories that are rooted in Indian small-towns? Hope is around the corner.
This Thursday, director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari will bring her magnificently messy romantic drama, Bareilly Ki Barfi. in which two men (Rajkumar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana) compete for the affections of a young woman, Bittu (Kriti Sanon). The protagonists aren’t billionaires, but normal working-class individuals with big dreams.
Kriti Sanon and Ayushmann Khurrana.
“Audiences are welcoming content-driven films. I believe India lives in small-towns and people immediately relate to the stories and the characters ... Bareilly is a realistic comedy. If you are looking for a story that comes straight from the heart, then you will love this film,” said Rao, the Indian National Award-winning actor whose credits include the blockbuster Queen and the disturbing survival drama Trapped.
This is Tiwari’s second film after the touching satire Nil Battey Sannata.
The Bollywood industry is going through a bleak phase where matinee idols such as Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan aren’t the box office pulls they were once touted to be. These days, it’s stories that serve as gravitational force at the box office.
“Newcomers like me who are relatively new have to choose scripts and topics that are different now. We are in that era of cinema where there is transition happening where audiences seek something different with every film. Audiences are becoming smarter. I have to just try harder and make choices that are bolder, riskier and choose subjects that are unconventional and unheard of,” said Khurrana.
“I don’t call them risks, this is the right way to go,” added Khurrana.
Gulf News tabloid! spoke to the three actors who form the love triangle in Bareilly Ki Barfi and their collective chorus is that the film is an endearing love story ...
Meet the characters:
Who: Kriti Sanon
Kriti Sanon in ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’.
You know her from: Raabta and Dilwale
Her character: She plays Bittu, a spunky woman who questions the blatant sexism that exists in her household. She isn’t a fan of following traditions and craves freedom from regressive thoughts. She’s outspoken, but not spoilt.
Bareilly Ki Barfi in her own words
“It’s a quirky, slice-of-life film that has a distinct flavour of UP. It’s a situational comedy that blends humour and drama. All the characters in this film are relatable. The small-town girl nuances and behaviour are brought alive. Bittu may remind you of someone you know in your life. It’s a film where every character is well-etched out. It’s not just a love story, it’s a family entertainer where the relationship between Bittu and her mother, and Bittu and the two men she meets in her life are important.”
On mastering the UP dialect and accent
“It’s the first time in my career that I had to pick up a dialect for a film. I didn’t know how to go about it or what process to follow. Being from Delhi I knew my Hindi is good but picking up a dialect is a different ball game altogether. I knew I had to pick up the right accent to make Bittu convincing. A week before I began shooting, I went to Lucknow and I met two college-going women with whom I hung out for a few hours. I learnt about their life as a PG [Paying Guest] college-goers, the way they react when somebody eve-teases [sexually harasses] them or how they don’t hesitate to beat up guys who trouble them. That conversation helped me pick up the accent and those nuances of those living in that region quick. Also, actor Rohit Chaudhry, who is from UP, and was a part of our acting team, guided us.
Her thoughts on stalking being romanticised in Bareilley Ki Barfi
“Stalking is something else. Wooing a girl is different. When you are wooing a girl, you pursue and try to show your best side to the person you like. Wooing is romantic, stalking is usually done without the other person’s consent. We are not showing stalking in any manner in this film.”
On life-lessons from Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkumar Rao
Khurrana and Rao have a heated moment in ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’.
“I got to observe some of the most talented actors in Bollywood. Just by observing them, I learn a lot and it made me realise that my scenes are uplifted by watching them perform. Both are easy to work with, they are chilled out, yet focused in their work. Our process was always collaborative and there was always a healthy exchange of ideas.”
Who: Rajkumar Rao
You know him from: Aligarh and Trapped
His character in BKB: He plays Pritam Vidrohi, who can be meek as a mouse one minute and a snarky snake a few seconds later. That switch of personalities and shades is his biggest quirk.
His role in Bareilly Ki Barfi
“He doesn’t suffer from multiple-personality disorder,” insists Rajkumar Rao. “I play Pritam Vidrohi, who has two distinct shades in his personality. On [the] one hand, Pritam is this simple, sweet and meek salesman in a sari store, while his other personality trait is an aggressive brat with swag and style. It is not a dual role, but I play a person with two different, distinct personality traits.”
His prep for his role of a salesman Pritam
“I went to a sari store in Juhu [in Mumbai] and observed the salesmen in that store. I learnt how to drape a sari, which was a task in itself, and learnt their body language and how they treat their customers or deal with them. The salesmen were more than happy to help and I can confidently say that not many actors in Bollywood know how to drape a sari — barring Irrfan Khan who tried it in Hindi Medium. This is why being an actor is so much fun, you get to learn so much by observing.”
Rao’s relationship advice to all the men out there seeking true love
“Just be yourself and always show your true side to the girl. Remember, you can never win a girl by lying, so it makes sense to be real about who you are. Share your feelings with her, if it doesn’t work out, then just move on. Remember, your biggest tool in your kitty is to win a girl by being yourself.”
About his witty dialogue in the film where Pritam declares that half of the men in India would be unmarried, if looks were the sole criteria in an arranged marriage
“It’s the sad truth and it’s still happening in our country. Personally, looks may matter to many people, but I wouldn’t choose my partner based on looks alone.”
Who: Ayushmann Khurrana
You know him from: Vicky Donor and Dum Laga Ke Haisha
His character in BKB: Chirag Dubey is a man in love. He’s cocksure that he will win over Bittu.
His role in BKB:
“Chirag Dubey is the owner of a printing press and he falls madly in love with Bittu when she comes to inquire about an author of a book that his company had printed. He’s a bully and is aggressive when it comes to matters of the heart.”
Whether this film romanticises stalking in the name of being persuasive
“The film is not about stalking. There’s this notion that small-town people are not expressive in love and that they go through different routes to meet their love. The film dwells into that. It’s not stalking, that’s just him trying to impress the girl. In real life, I am neither a bully nor am I aggressive, but we had acting workshops before the filming began.”
Are stories from small-towns the new fad in Bollywood
“Both my biggest hits, Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Vicky Donor, were simple stories. They worked because they had unique, unheard-of subjects [Vicky Donor was a comedy around sperm donation and DLKH was a romantic comedy about an arranged marriage gone wrong]. Around 70 per cent of our nation dwells in small cities and there is migration by small-towners to urban cities in India and those are the ones who love to watch films close to their native land. And the viewers in metros find it exotic and endearing to know about tales from small cities. Bareilly Ki Barfi is a small-town quirky dramedy that brings alive the vibrant milieu of that place.”
Don’t Miss It!
Bareilly Ki Barfi! is out in the UAE this Thursday.
